A Little Time
by Tiquismiquis
Summary: Olivia reached up to caress Libra's cheek for the first time and he flinched.


_Author's Note: For a tumblr prompter requesting Libra/Olivia (after Olivia learns the dance of the gods, Libra wants to try dancing with her, himself). I didn't have any feels for the pairing but goodness gracious Olivia is such a big cutie and the prompt was so sweet._

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><p>Olivia realized it when she reached up to caress his cheek for the first time and he flinched.<p>

"Libra," she'd whispered. "What have I done?"

"It isn't you." He'd kept his eyes clenched shut. "I just…I'm not used to being touched. I don't prefer it."

"All right." Olivia withdrew her hand.

The sight of his beautiful face cringing haunted her for the next several days. Someone, once upon a time, must have hurt him very badly. Didn't they know how much? Did they know whatever they had done had rippled, and was hurting Olivia too?

Ever since she'd learned the priests' dance, Libra had come every night to watch her perfect it as the addendum to his evening prayers. He also lingered long after moonrise to speak to her about her day and ask about every little thing on her mind. Olivia was shy around men but she wasn't naive. She recognized the tilt to his head, the tenderness in his eyes. Lately, after their goodnights, she would lie awake in bed imagining everything that was coming, all of their first gentle kisses and what his hair would feel like sifting through her fingers and how maybe one night he wouldn't say goodbye and she could doze off against his shoulder, soothed by the smell of him.

The night she'd tried to touch his face tore it all away. He didn't come back the next evening. Or the next.

By the end of the week, Olivia was miserable. She wanted to seek him out and apologize, or ask if he needed a listening ear, but was too afraid to mess things up even more. The mere thought of confronting him made blood rush to her face and her tongue tremble in her mouth. She wanted to hide under her blankets instead of practicing, but habit drew her feet to their usual place at their usual time.

He was waiting for her. Her hands fluttered to cover her mouth.

"Libra, I'm so—"

"I'm sorry," he said, so calmly she didn't realize she'd been cut off. "I've pushed you away, Olivia."

"No," she insisted. "No, not at…well…perhaps a little."

Her hands clasped and sank to their usual anxious perch above her breast. Her shoulders raised as he walked toward her.

"Please forgive me," he said. "I didn't mean to. I just needed a little time."

"Right. Time. Of course." The assurance was out before she even realized she was confused. "Time for what?"

"To pray. To think. I don't always think very clearly around you." He gave her a rather crooked smile, for a priest. Her heart thumped so loudly that she was afraid he heard.

"I-I'm really sorry. I don't mean to distract you. Y-You really don't have to keep coming and watching, I-I just thought, since we were friends, that—" Her blabbering stopped when he reached out for her hand, holding onto just her fingertips.

"I think some of this might be difficult for me. But I must also do what I am inspired to, and follow the turns the gods set in my path. I was wondering if you would dance again?"

"Oh." The heat was back in her cheeks, but now it was a happy sort. "Is that all? I'm always eager to dance!"

"I meant…with me. I'd like to try."

He looked so nervous. Olivia gave him her most practiced smile, the at-ease one she painted on her face for her performances, although this time it was to reassure him instead of herself. She raised their barely-entwined hands and ghosted her free one over his shoulder, hardly alighting on the cloth of his robe. She waited until she felt the same feather-light touch against her back. After a moment his palm pressed harder. She let her hand settle too.

"Dancing takes a good deal of practice, Libra," she said with a playfully solemn look. "If this is what you want, we shall have to keep at it every day."

"That's all right with me." His usual serenity had returned to his face, as if the past few days had never happened, although Olivia noted the quickness of his breath. He took his first step forward and she moved back effortlessly. "That's perfectly all right."


End file.
